A Minecraft Tale: Shadow of the End
by Reaper789
Summary: In a world covered by darkness, Steve finds himself a hero with nothing to guide him but a young girl and a spirit. Can he survive and lift the shadow of the end, or will he perish like his predecessors? (This is my first fanfic, enjoy) Disclaimer: I do not own Minecraft, all rights go to Mojang
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Shadows Rising

It was a normal kind of day for Steve, he had just been out in the plains mining and was on his way home while the sun was still visible because, as his feather used to say, no sun is a bad sun. By the time he had arrived back at his mountain hut, the skies had darkened and Steve was more than ready to rest for the night when he caught light coming from the plains below. When Steve looked towards the source and saw a terrifying sight: the nearby village had gone up in flames. Without thinking he began to slide down the mountain and head to the village.

When he arrived, the scent of smoke and blood was still lingering in the air, the bodies of dead villagers still littered the ground and at the centre was the cause of the deaths: a portal to a realm known only as 'The Nether' was glowing among the rubble. "Wonderful," Steve muttered, "This can't get any worse." As if to respond to Steve's frustration, a giant of a skeleton stepped through the portal. It roughly 7.5 feet tall, had bones that were charred black, had a menacing purple glow in its eyes and, to make matters worse, was carrying an oversized sword made of stone; this particular foe was a wither skeleton.

Upon spotting Steve, it strode slowly towards him at first, dragging the sword across the ground, and then began to sprint at a frightening pace and smashed the sword downwards, narrowly missing Steve, and then hit him against a wall. It struck again, this time sweeping at his head, and yet again missed when Steve rolled out the way. The blade cleaved through the crumbling stonework like a knife through warm butter and caught Steve's arm as he stood up again. Steve clutched his arm in pain as blood began to splatter against the floor, his arm grew weaker until he could no longer hold his sword and therefore he had to throw it against the floor. The lumbering skeleton prepared to strike Steve down once and for all when the sound of coughing came from nearby, causing both Steve and his opponent to turn.

The creature began to move towards the sound and once again cut through any stone that got in its way. By now the short effect had worn off and Steve was recovering his strength and, knowing that another was in danger, lifted his sword and lunged at the skeleton and, using a fallen wall as a ramp, sprang onto it and drove his iron blade through its skull and tore it off completely. Injured, Steve moved towards the crumbling building that contained whoever was coughing and threw himself through the window, sending glass everywhere.

He was now lying on the floor on his chest, he turned his head to the side and saw somebody else the other side of the house. Part of the roof had collapsed and buried their legs (as well as blocking the door), Steve quickly pushed himself up from the floor and ran towards them. Upon getting closer, Steve could see that this was a girl and was instantly captivated by her. She had reddish hair and pale skin. Steve was only broken from his trance by her voice, weak as a mouse, "Help me," she coughed, her emerald green eyes looking into Steve's diamond blue ones, "M-move the rubble."

Steve did this and found that she had lost a lot of blood, he dragged her to her feet and allowed her to lean on his shoulder, then tying a bit of his own clothing that had been previously torn off around a still bleeding wound on her leg. He then asked, "If I might ask, what is your name?"

"Alex, it's Alex," she weakly replied, "Why?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to stay at my place to recover," Steve stated. Alex smiled weakly but then passed out there, causing Steve to lay her against the stone he previously used as a ramp and properly examine the wound, he soon realised that it would be impossible to climb a mountain with her, but he couldn't just leave her there to die. He covered the wound and, using all his strength, picked her up and began to to carry her up the mountain.

After a good couple of hours, he had made it up the mountain to his house and almost collapsed at the entrance. Leaning Alex against the wall, Steve unlocked the door to his house. He then dragged Alex inside and placed her in a chair. He then began to make a potion (he always kept spare ingredients and was a great alchemist) that could heal Alex's wounds easily. It was ready before she woke up so Steve decided to go and get his spare bed from his basement.

When he got back, Alex was awake and quite evidently confused. Steve had dragged the bed up but dropped it to quickly go and get the potion. He then returned to Alex and told her, "Here, this will help." Alex was too weak to question how, she had lost a lot of blood and was now struggling to move. Sure enough, the potion was working within three minutes and Alex was up and moving. He grinned, "Nice to see you're better Alex," and was about to carry on when she asked,

"D-did anyone else make it?"

"No," Steve replied glumly, "Everyone else was dead when I got there." He frowned when he saw tears forming in Alex's eyes and went to a chest in the corner of the room, only to find it was empty. He quickly unpacked everything in his backpack and threw it all in the chest before looking out into the darkness and mumbling to Alex, "I'm going to have to go and get supplies, there's a sword in the basement if worse comes to worse but I'm locking the door so nothing should get in." Her eyes widened in fear as she asked, "Y-you're leaving me here alone?" He nodded and gave her a nervous smiled before moving out the door and locking it behind him, leaving Alex alone with a single torch keeping the darkness at bay.

Steve had been moving through the plains for half an hour when he heard a familiar groaning and turned to see three zombies limping and stumbling towards him, one of which had a broken iron cuirass and half a sword. He drew his own sword and lunged at the first zombie, quickly slicing it in two before whirling around and splintering the skull of the next and impaling it before recovering his sword and slashing at the last one. The zombie took the blow only to strike forward with what was left of its sword and leave a jagged cut in Steve's forearm. After jumping back to avoid another attack, he sliced off both arms before he kicked it in the jaw with a sickening crunch and finished by tearing through its chest with his blade. He nodded in approval of his work before continuing his trek.

He finally arrived at the cliffs where he pulled out his pickaxe and frantically dug at the stone in front of him, mentally swearing when he stumbled forward and landed in a cave with no apparent way back up. Searching around for the easiest route through the cave, he spun round to see a pair of purple eyes watching him from the never ending darkness. They vanished as Steve suddenly felt something impact his back and send him through the air, dangerously close to a would be fatal drop into molten lava below. A jet black figure that stood at roughly 8 feet dived at him, those same purple eyes full of hate as Steve struck a wall and managed to bring a current of water rushing out, engulfing the creature as it faded to nothing, leaving a small blue pearl in its place as the water rushed of the ledge. He picked it up and quickly pocketed it as he looked down at the ledge and then over the way he'd been attacked from, realising it was the only way he could go.

Listening carefully to the sounds of various monsters around the cave, Steve navigated his way through the darkness until he saw the moonlight high above him, shining down from a hole that led back to the surface. He sighed and grabbed another pickaxe that was sat by the crushed remains of a zombie and used it, along with his own, to dig into the rock and climb up the vertical walls. He realised just how long he'd been gone when he finally climbed out and saw his house illuminated by sunrise, he curse again under his breath for leaving Alex on her own before moving sluggishly towards his house, happy to be by the mountaintop already. He practically collapsed by the door but quickly pulled himself up and unlocked the door, only to stumble onto the floor and see Alex asleep on the spare bed, despite the fact that it was in the middle of the room. He smiled slightly before climbing onto his own bed and drifting happily to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Learning the Ropes

He awoke the next day to set Alex already awake and watching him patiently. She was first to speak, "If I'm going to stay here, I'm going to need to know how you manage to survive here." He thought for a moment before smiling, "Sure thing, come with me." Alex followed quietly as they went into the basement. It had a gravel floor and walls made from stone bricks, various weapons hung on the walls and there also many armour racks, most of which were empty. Along the left side of the room were different types of training targets and along the right were rows upon rows of metals and crystals. There were also a furnace, cauldron and anvil, along with a wooden crafting table and various tools. Alex silently gazed around in surprise. Steve spoke, "I've gathered everything myself, it gets hard sometimes but you've just got to press forward no matter what. Don't worry though, I've got plenty of supplies and enough experience to know what to teach you."

Alex replied, "I can use a bow, or a crossbow, or basically anything involving distance and accuracy."

Steve shrugged, "I'll be the judge of that, I have a bow in the chest over there." He pointed to the corner of the room and Alex nodded before grabbing the bow and a quiver of twenty five arrows. Steve then nodded and pulled a lever, pulling back the brickwork and revealing a cave lit up with torches, not to mention the bodies of various zombies, skeletons, spiders and even a creeper. The far end of the cave had several straw targets and there was a ladder into the cave by the entrance Steve had revealed. Alex knew what he was waiting for and nocked an arrow into the bowstring before pulling back and releasing it. Much to Steve's surprise, she hit the first target dead in the center. The next, a human shaped target with a bucket as helmet, was hit right in the target's 'forehead', piercing the bucket, then again in the 'chest' where a person's heart would be.

"I'm impressed," Steve told her, not noticing the blush she gave afterwards as he continued, "Who taught you to shoot like that?"

"My father," she replied, the hint of sadness in her tone making Steve mentally slap himself for asking, "He died last year, caught in the open by zombies."

"I see," Steve replied with a frown before smiling, "Not to worry, I can assure you that the same thing won't happen to you."

Alex felt her lips curve into a small smile as she nodded silently before focusing on the next target, she took a deep breath before firing, only for the arrow to skim the target. Steve frowned until he saw the arrow ricochet off of the back wall and hit the target from behind.

He took her into the cave with a torch, gave her a leather chestplate and stone pickaxe and told her, "Keep the bow, next we'll be going mining."

She raised a brow before asking, "Y-you want us to go mining?"

He nodded, "Don't worry, I'll handle anything we come across." With that, he took his iron pick from his belt and struck the wall, and again, and again… A small lump of coal was struck and he nodded to Alex, who lifted the heavy stone tool and hit the area around the coal, smiling contents and leaning on the pickaxe when it fell to the floor. It wasn't long before the pickaxe slipped from its position and she fell with it. Steve caught her mid-fall and quickly put her down, both of them averting their gazes and looking down, blushing. Steve eventually sighed, "Rule number one, don't pose with the tools, I learnt that the hard way as well." Alex nodded and silently began mining away at the cavern walls, this time the wall gave away and they were faced with an ever-expanding darkness. Steve took the torch and held it in front of them. However, even the soft glow of the torch showed nothing in the emptiness despite a now audible groaning. Alex started shaking and barely held back a scream as a zombie burst forth from the darkness, only for Steve to slice it in two. A second one appeared and followed the same fate, and a third, and a fourth. Alex watched as the small group was quickly cut down, her skin white with fear until Steve ran off and quickly came back with some planks to board off the hole.

Steve sighed, "Maybe we should give the mining a miss for now," and Alex nodded in agreement, still shaking. Steve gave a small frown before telling her, "As I said, it'll be hard at first, but you should get used to it quickly."

"I-I will n-never understand how you could do that," Alex replied, the fear still evident in her voice. Steve simply shrugged before leading her back into the main bit of the house.

Upon arrival, Steve told her, "OK, I'm sure you can make useful items," smiling when he got a nod in response. Steve then took some stone and wood out of a chest and told her, "Here you go, you'll need an axe." Alex silently nodded and formed the stone into a blade before creating the wooden handle. She then crafted the axe and held it up proudly. Steve nodded, "Excellent, now if you'll follow m-"

He was cut off by a deep rumbling from outside. The two exited, being greeted by the night sky, and saw a pair of purple eyes watching them. An enderman stepped forward from the shadows, Steve pulled out his sword before realising something: This one had a dark purple cape and a bluish-green sword with an ender pearl in the center. It spoke, something that shocked them both, "I must thank you, human, for ridding the nearby village of my master's enemies, however the enemy of my enemy is not always my friend, so I'm afraid that the both of you must be removed, goodbye..."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: The Keeper of Balance

The Enderman lunged forward, Steve tackled Alex to the ground and the sword missed them by centimetres. All of a sudden, their opponent teleported so that he was leaning over them and struck downwards. Steve brought his own sword up and narrowly blocked the hit, but now both blades were being pushed closer to the humans. Seeing that this was futile, Steve quickly pushed the blades to the side and jumped back, luring the Enderman away from Alex. It was working, but each swing directed at Steve got closer. The Enderman eventually teleported behind Steve and grabbed his leg. He laughed, "You thought you could defeat me? Poor, simple human."

Steve simply asked, "Could that line be anymore generic?" His answer was being thrown down a small ledge. The Enderman jumped down and was about to finish Steve when the stone behind them burst open, leaving a crater in the mountain, and a white-eyed figure stepped forward from the debris. He eyed the Enderman before pulling out two swords made of smelted netherack and leapt forward with both swords in a reverse grip. The Enderman prepared to block but was met with one of his own tricks: the figure suddenly teleported before impact and kicked him in the back of the head before landing a few more ledges down. The ledge began to crumble beneath them, causing the Enderman to teleport down to his new opponent while Steve was left injured in a cave.

The two beings were now duelling in the remains of Alex's hometown, not a word spoke as Alex looked down to see buildings toppling under their power. She immediately grabbed the bow and went down to Steve, who was now lying unconscious in the hole. Lifting him into her arms, she soon found herself carrying him up the mountain, not that the weight of his armour helped with this task. She cast another glance to the duel, watching the very ground shake as the battle continued in the distance, before starting back up the mountain.

Meanwhile, the duel continued. The Enderman roared, "This is the end of you, nothing shall stand in the way of the master's coming." The white-eyed figure said nothing, instead teleporting into the sky and launching a fireball before teleporting back behind the Enderman and striking with both blades. His opponent took the hits and retaliated with an attack not witnessed on this world: He was surrounded by a purple mist before releasing a powerful shockwave, blasting the nearby ruins to dust, and announced, "I AM GENERAL LAGOTIUS, I SHALL NOT FALL TO A MORTAL TODAY, NOT EVER!"

"I am no mortal," the man said, an aura of fire preventing the shockwave from landing, "I am the keeper of balance, Herobrine…"

Those words clearly had an effect on Lagotius, who stepped back before shaking his head and resuming the attack, though relying more on brutal efficiency than strategy. The two clashed again and again, this time neither could land a hit on each other as blades struck one another in a shower of sparks. Fire collided with ender acid and the two blades clashed as the duel continued. The two opponents fought with all of their might until Lagotius collapsed onto one knee and used the last of his strength to return to the End. Herobrine looked up to the mountain and teleported back to another realm, his whereabouts or even existence were but a myth, but he had chosen, the two had a certain purity around them, especially the girl, perhaps even enough to drown out the growing darkness.

Alex awoke the next day and saw that Steve was stirring too. "Ugh…" Steve groaned as he sat up, "My head…" Acting out of kindness, Alex handed him one of his potions. Steve nodded in thanks before drinking it. It was then that the two of them noticed the note on the table across the room.

Alex read the note aloud, "You have been chosen."

"Chosen for what?" Steve asked, knowing something wasn't right.

"It doesn't say," she replied, "But I don't like the sound of this."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry about the short chapter this time, I didn't really know where I was going with this one. I hope you enjoyed this anyway.**


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